Full display mirror with gear-driven toggle mechanism

ABSTRACT

A rearview mirror for a vehicle includes a housing defining an interior cavity and an open side, a substrate coupled within the open side of the housing and having a reflective surface thereon, and an actuation mechanism coupled within the housing. The actuation mechanism includes a mounting plate rotatably coupled within the cavity of the housing at a first end thereof and a spring plate coupled with the mounting plate and having a resiliently deformable arm portion extending away from the mounting plate. The actuation mechanism also includes a socket body rotatably coupled within the interior cavity of the housing, the arm portion of the spring plate being operably coupled with the socket body along a coupling axis and a motor rigidly coupled within the interior cavity of the housing and operably coupled with the socket body to drive rotation thereof.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claim priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/053,252 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,963,074) filed onFeb. 25, 2016, entitled “FULL DISPLAY MIRROR WITH GEAR-DRIVEN TOGGLEMECHANISM,” which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/121,960, filed on Feb. 27, 2015,entitled “FULL DISPLAY MIRROR WITH GEAR-DRIVEN TOGGLE MECHANISM,” thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a full-display rearviewmirror for a motor vehicle and, more particularly, relates to amechanism for automatic movement of the display mirror substrate betweenactive and inactive positions.

BACKGROUND

Automotive rearview mirrors including video displays therein may bereferred to as full-display mirrors. Such mirrors may also includefunctionality as an ordinary, reflective rearview mirror that can beimplemented as an alternative to the included video display, which canbe done, for example, in response to a loss of power to the videodisplay or the like. Incorporation of such functionality has beenaccomplished by including a reflective surface over the video displaythat is at least partially transparent such that the display is visibletherethrough. To prevent the reflected image from interfering with thevideo image, when available, the mirror may be tilted upward, toward thevehicle headliner, such that the reflective image is less noticeable tothe driver and. Such tilting has been implemented, for example, by useof a bi-modal lever that the driver can use to manually move the mirrorbetween the upwardly-tilted position associated with video display useand a position whereby the reflective surface can be used in connectionwith the rearview mirror. Such mechanisms may currently operate bymanual input by the user and may give an undesirable appearance of anordinary prism-mirror. Accordingly, further advances may be desired.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a rearview mirror fora vehicle includes a housing defining an interior cavity and an openside, a substrate coupled within the open side of the housing and havinga reflective surface thereon, and an actuation mechanism coupled withinthe housing. The actuation mechanism includes a mounting plate rotatablycoupled within the cavity of the housing at a first end thereof and aspring plate coupled with the mounting plate and having a resilientlydeformable arm portion extending away from the mounting plate. Theactuation mechanism also includes a socket body rotatably coupled withinthe interior cavity of the housing, the arm portion of the spring platebeing operably coupled with the socket body along a coupling axis and amotor rigidly coupled within the interior cavity of the housing andoperably coupled with the socket body to drive rotation thereof.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a rear-visionsystem for a vehicle includes a video camera mounted on the vehicle in aposition to capture an image of a portion of an exterior thereof and adisplay mirror. The display mirror includes a housing defining aninterior cavity and an open side, a substrate coupled over the open sideof the housing and having a display in electronic communication with thecamera for presenting the image thereon and a one-way reflective layeroverlying the display, and an actuation mechanism coupled within thehousing. The actuation mechanism has a mounting plate rotatably coupledwithin the cavity of the housing at a first end thereof, a spring platecoupled with the mounting plate and having a resiliently deformable armportion extending away from the mounting plate, and a socket bodyrotatably coupled within the interior cavity of the housing, the armportion of the spring plate being operably coupled with the socket bodyalong a coupling axis. A motor is rigidly coupled within the interiorcavity of the housing is operably coupled with the socket body to driverotation thereof.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicleincludes a windshield, a headliner adjacent an upper edge of thewindshield, and a mirror assembly. The mirror assembly includes asubstrate including a display and a one-way reflective layer overlyingthe display, a mounting plate rotatably coupled within the cavity of thehousing at a first end thereof, a spring plate coupled with the mountingplate and having a resiliently deformable arm portion extending awayfrom the mounting plate, and a socket body rotatably coupled within theinterior cavity of the housing, the arm portion of the spring platebeing operably coupled with the socket body along a coupling axis. Amotor is rigidly coupled within the interior cavity of the housing andoperably coupled with the socket body to drive rotation thereof.

These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present devicewill be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the artupon studying the following specification, claims, and appendeddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a portion of a rearview mirroraccording to an aspect of the disclosure and including an actuationmechanism for tilting a display substrate included therewith;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a vehicle interiorincluding the rearview mirror of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the rearview mirror portion ofFIG. 1 with the actuation mechanism in an additional configurationprovided thereby;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective cross-section view of a portion of therearview mirror of FIG. 1 with the actuation mechanism in aconfiguration corresponding to an active position of the rearviewmirror;

FIG. 5 is a front-perspective cross-section view of a portion of therearview mirror of FIG. 1 with the actuation mechanism in aconfiguration corresponding to an inactive position of the rearviewmirror;

FIG. 6 is a front-perspective view of an alternative actuation mechanismthat can be used in a variation of the rearview mirror of FIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 7 is a front-perspective view of the actuation mechanism of FIG. 6showing further internal components thereof;

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a portion of an alternativerearview mirror including an actuation mechanism for tilting a displaysubstrate included therewith; and

FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of a portion of a further alternativerearview mirror including an actuation mechanism for tilting a displaysubstrate included therewith.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

For purposes of description herein the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,”“left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivativesthereof shall relate to the device as oriented in FIG. 1. However, it isto be understood that the device may assume various alternativeorientations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to thecontrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices andprocesses illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in thefollowing specification are simply exemplary embodiments of theinventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specificdimensions and other physical characteristics relating to theembodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting,unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

Referring now to FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 generally designates arearview mirror for a vehicle 12 (of which the interior thereof is shownin FIG. 2). Rearview mirror 10 includes a housing 14 defining aninterior cavity 16 and an open side 18 to the cavity 16. The rearviewmirror 10 further includes an actuation mechanism 24 within the housing14 and having a mounting plate 20 rotatably coupled within the cavity 16of the housing 14 at a first end 22 of the mounting plate 20. Theactuation mechanism 24 further has a spring plate 25 coupled with themounting plate 20 and with a resiliently deformable spring arm 27extending therefrom. A socket body 34 is rotatably coupled within theinterior cavity 16 of the housing 14, the spring arm 27 portion of thespring plate 25 being operably coupled with the socket body 34. A motor26 is coupled within the interior cavity 16 of the housing 14 and isoperably coupled with the socket body 34 to drive rotation thereof.

As shown in the Figures, motor 26 is operable to drive movement ofmounting plate 20 relative to housing 14, with which motor 26 is rigidlycoupled, by rotation of socket body 34 between opposing, stablepositions provided by spring plate 25 (and in particular spring arms 27)in the operable engagement thereof with socket body 34. To overcome theforce of spring arms 27 that provides the stable positions of socketbody 34 and, accordingly, of mounting plate 20, motor 26 may connectwith socket body 34 by a reduction mechanism 29 coupled between anoutput gear 42 coupled with output shaft 32 of motor 26 and a spur gear30 that is coupled with socket body 34.

As shown in FIG. 2, rearview mirror 10 can be used in connection with avehicle interior 56. In one embodiment substrate 52 can include a videodisplay along a portion or an entirety thereof such that rearview mirroris what may be referred to as a full-display mirror. A substrate 52including such a display is referred to herein as “display substrate 52”and may be capable of displaying an image replicating that which wouldbe available from a typical reflective mirror (which may be captured byan appropriately-positioned video camera, such as camera 94, or thelike) when the display is in an active state. Such an image can besupplemented with other information presented on display substrate 52.In combination with such a display substrate 52, reflective surface 54may be applied so as to overlie the display as a coating or separateelement having properties to both provide a reflected image as well asto permit a video image of display substrate 52 to be visibletherethrough in what may be referred to as a rear vision system.

The presence of reflective surface 54 permits substrate 52 to be used asa standard rearview mirror (i.e. without the need to view the displayedimage) when the display is inactive, which may occur when the relatedvehicle 12 is not running or when power to the display substrate 52 isinterrupted, for example. When in the active state, however, thepresence of the reflective surface 54 over display substrate 52 cancause the image reflected by reflective surface 54 to compete with animage presented on display substrate 52. To alleviate such imagecompetition, substrate 52 can be positioned such that reflective surface54 reflects an image of the headliner 60 toward the driver. Becausevehicle headliners are of generally consistent, non-reflective material,such an image may compete less with the video image of display substrate52.

Rearview mirror 10, by way of the actuation mechanism 24, includingmounting plate 20, spring plate 25, socket body 34, motor 26, andreduction mechanism 29 can provide for automatic repositioning of theremainder of mirror 10 (i.e., housing 14 and display substrate 52)between an appropriate position thereof for use of reflective surface 54when display substrate 52 is in the inactive state and for viewing of adisplayed image, without undesirable competition, when display substrate52 is in the active state.

To facilitate such movement, the above-described internal components ofrearview mirror 10, including spring plate 25, socket body 34, motor 26,and reduction mechanism 29 can move housing 14 by the above-describedrotation of mounting plate 20 about first end 22 thereof. As shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, mounting plate 20 can couple with a mounting base 46(FIG. 5) or other structure that can be a portion of or otherwisecoupleable with the mounting structure 58, which is used to mountrearview mirror 10 within vehicle 12. Housing 14 may have an aperture 50(FIG. 5) positioned adjacent mounting plate 20 such that mounting base46 can pass therethrough, thus allowing mounting plate 20 to couple withmounting structure 58 to retain rearview mirror 10 in an adjustableposition with respect to windshield 62 or headliner 60. Accordingly, theabove-described relative movement of mounting plate 20 with respect tohousing 14 causes movement of housing 14 (and accordingly substrate 52coupled therewith) in the form of rotation thereof about first end 22 ofmounting plate 20. Such movement, in turn, moves substrate 52 betweenthe above-described active (FIG. 1) and inactive (FIG. 3) positions,according to whether or not display substrate 52 is in an off-state oran on-state. Such a mechanism can also obviate any need for a lever orother form of mechanical, manually operable feature, which may provide amore “high-end” or aesthetically pleasant form for rearview mirror 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, when display substrate 52 is inactive, rearviewmirror 10 can be configured with actuation mechanism 24 and mountingplate 20 in the corresponding inactive position such that displaysubstrate 52 can be manually moved to an appropriate position for use ofreflective surface 54. Such movement can be done by a user or the likeby movement of housing 14 about mounting structure 58, as furtherdescribed below. Upon activation of the display substrate 52, rearviewmirror 10 can cause housing 14 and display substrate 52 to tilt upwardwith respect to housing 14, thereby orienting reflective surface 54toward headliner 60, as shown in FIG. 1. Such orientation can beachieved by rotation of mounting plate 20 with respect to housing 14through an angle of about 6°, although such an angle can vary based onthe location and structure of rearview mirror 10. Upon deactivation ofdisplay substrate 52, rearview mirror 10 can return display substrate 52to the orientation shown in FIG. 3.

The movement of display substrate 52 (i.e. by overall movement ofrearview mirror 10) can be achieved by rotation of socket body 34 byrotation of spur gear 30, driven by motor 26 via output gear 42 andreduction mechanism 29, to move mounting plate 20 with respect tohousing 14 by the coupling of spring plate 25 between socket body 34 andmounting plate 20. Rotation of output gear 42 can be implementedautomatically upon a change in the state (from active to inactive orvice versa) of display substrate 52. In an example, motor 26 can beautomatically used to turn output gear 42 to cause movement of housing14 and display substrate 52 from the active state (shown in FIG. 1) tothe inactive state (shown in FIG. 3) upon a detected malfunction ofdisplay substrate 52 or powering down of vehicle 12. By the use ofsocket body 34 and spring plate 25 to move mounting plate 20 to achievesuch positioning of substrate 52, housing 14 can be maintained in theselected position for off-state usage of rearview mirror 10 (withoutcontinued output from motor 26, as described further below), meaningthat upon deactivation of display substrate 52, resulting in a return ofsubstrate 52 to the position shown in FIG. 3, rearview mirror 10 may bein a generally acceptable position for inactive state usage thereof andmay remain so until motor 26 is used to move mirror 10 back to theactive state position.

As described above, movement of housing 14 and substrate 52 can beachieved by the above-described operable coupling of motor 26 withsocket body 34 by engagement of reduction mechanism 29 with spur gear 30and the operable coupling of spring arms 27 with socket body 34. In thisarrangement, rotation of socket body 34 moves second end 28 of mountingplate 20 in a generally outward or inward direction with respect tohousing 14, thereby causing rotation of housing 14 and substrate 52about first end 22 of mounting plate 20 upward or downward aboutmounting structure 58 with which mounting plate 20 is generally fixed.

Returning now to FIG. 1, housing 14 is shown in the form of asingle-piece structure that can be made to generally replicate theappearance of a standard rearview mirror and can further be made from asingle piece of injection molded plastic or the like, although othermaterials are possible. In an example, substrate 52 can be coupleddirectly to housing 14 over open end 18. In an alternative example,substrate 52 can be coupled with a bezel or other secondary housingpiece (not shown) that can, in turn, be coupled with housing 14. Ineither example, housing 14 is structured so that interior cavity 16 isof a sufficient depth to retain internal structures thereof, includingmotor 26, actuation mechanism 24, and other related structures, as wellas control circuitry for display substrate 52. Housing 14 is alsostructured such that open side 18 is sufficiently large to acceptsubstrate 52 therein in a manner that, again, can replicate theappearance of a typical rearview mirror.

Mounting plate 20, as described above, is rotatably coupled with housing14 at first end 22 thereof. Such coupling can be achieved by theincorporation of a first hinge portion 64 into first end 22 of mountingplate 20 and a mating second hinge portion 66 into housing 14.Alternatively, a separate hinge (not shown) can be coupled betweenmounting plate 20 and housing 14. As further shown in FIG. 1, mountingplate 20 can generally extend through a majority of a vertical height ofhousing 14 and can, further, be of a width sufficient to stably supportthe entirety of mirror 10, such as by attachment of mounting base 46 toa side of mounting plate 20 opposite substrate 52 with a portion ofmounting base 46 or mounting structure 58 passing through theappropriately-sized aperture 50 in housing 14.

Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the movement of mounting plate 20 achievedby actuation mechanism 24 is illustrated in detail. In particular, theoperable coupling of motor 26 with socket body 34 by the reductionmechanism 29 and spur gear 30 is such that motor 26 can rotate socketbody 34 so as to apply a force on spring arms 27 to cause rotation ofmounting plate 20 about first end 22. The amount of reduction providedby reduction mechanism 29, which is achieved by a series of reductiongears 44 contained within housing portions 48 a and 48 b, dictates theamount of movement of socket body 34 achieved by rotation of outputshaft 32. This not only affects the speed of such movement but thetorque applied to socket body 34 by motor 26.

In particular, it may be desirable to structure socket body 34, springplate 25 (including spring arms 27), and mounting plate 20 such that, asdiscussed above, the operable coupling of spring arms 27 with socketbody 34 provides two stable positions for socket body 34 that correspondto the active (FIG. 4) and passive (FIG. 5) positions for mounting plate20, which are angularly spaced-apart from each other by angle 70 whichmay be between about 5° and about 10° (and in an embodiment about 6°).Further, such rotation of mounting plate 20 can be achieved throughrotation of socket body 34 through an angle 72 of between about 70° and100° and in one embodiment about 80°. As discussed previously, thecoupling of spring arms 27 with socket body 34 can provide both for thedesired rotation of mounting plate 20 and for the above-noted stablepositions. In particular, spring arms 27 are coupled with socket body 34by engagement thereof within slot 74 (which defines a coupling axis withspring arms 27), which is configured so as to receive spring arms 27(such as by a cradling, snap, or press-fit arrangement) and to maintaina general position thereof that is offset from an axis 76, about whichsocket body 34 rotates, by a distance 78 of between, for example, 2 mmand 5 mm, and in an embodiment about 4 mm.

The offset arrangement of slot 74 with respect to axis 76 is such thatslot 74 translates in the longitudinal horizontal direction 80 uponrotation of socket body 34 about axis 76. This translation causesmovement of spring arms 27, which are coupled therewith, resulting inrotation of mounting plate 20 about first end 22. Spring arms 27 are ofa resiliently deformable material, such as metal (e.g. spring steel,aluminum, or the like), for example, which may be the same as theentirety of spring plate 25 with which spring arms 27 may be integrallyjoined. The resilient deformability of spring arms 27 allows them toaccommodate the component movement of slot 74 in the vertical direction82 during the rotation thereof that results in the aforementionedlongitudinal horizontal translation. Spring arms 27 can further be tunedto provide the above-noted stable positions for articulation mechanism24 and, accordingly, rearview mirror 10. In particular, the resilientdeformability of spring arms 27 may be such that spring arms 27 exert aspring force opposing the compression thereof that results from thevertical movement component of slot 74 during rotation of socket body 34about axis 76, such spring force being sufficient to overcome theinternal forces of mechanism 24 (e.g. friction between and among thevarious components thereof) and to urge socket body 34 into either ofthe positions thereof that are associated with the active position (asshown in FIG. 4) and the passive position (as shown in FIG. 5), uponslot 74 passing a vertical-most position (i.e. an apex) during rotationthereof. In other words, spring arms 27 can provide a generallyvertically-downward force on slot 74 that urges rotation of socket body34 when slot 74 is on either side of the vertical-most position duringrotation thereof. Spring arms 27 can, further, be configured so as to beunder compression when articulation mechanism 24 is in either stableposition.

Various structures of articulation mechanism 24 can provide for physicallimits to the movement of mounting plate 20 in both the active andpassive stable positions. In one example, mounting plate 20 can contactan adjacent portion of housing 14 when in the passive position. Inanother example, spur gear 30 can be positioned such that opposite sidesthereof contact corresponding portions of bottom wall 84 of housing 14in, respectively, the active and passive positions. In an alternativearrangement, various physical stop structures can be incorporated on,for example, socket body 34 and housing 14 (see stops 286 a and 286 b inFIG. 8).

In an example, articulation mechanism 24, including spring arms 27 andsocket body 34, can be configured such that a torque applied to socketbody 34 of at least 200 N-mm is required to overcome the force of springarms 27 and rotate socket body 34 about axis 76. It may be desired touse a motor 26 that can produce between about 5 N-mm and 20 N-mm oftorque, for example, at output shaft 32. Accordingly, reductionmechanism 29, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, may be operably coupled betweenoutput gear 42 and spur gear 30 to allow motor 26 to drive rotation ofsocket body 34. In an example, reduction mechanism may include aplurality of inter-engaging reduction gears 44 to allow motor 26 torotate output shaft 32 at a higher speed, with such speed reduced bygears 44 to produce a higher torque on spur gear 30. In an example,reduction mechanism 29 may have a total (or composite) ratio of betweenabout 12:1 and about 20:1, and in one embodiment, about 16:1.Accordingly, motor 26 may rotate output shaft 32 at a speed of betweenabout 110 and 300 revolutions per minute to affect rotation of spur gear30 through a rotation of about 80° in two seconds or less, for example,at the appropriate torque needed to overcome the force of spring arms 27and rotate socket body 34, thereby rotating mounting plate 20. Variousarrangements can be employed for the reduction gears 44 within reductionmechanism 29, which may, for example, be selected based on the torqueand speed requirements, as well as the available space within housing14.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, an alternative variation of reductionmechanism 129 is shown in which two pairs of pulleys 188, that areoperably coupled with respective belts 190, replace some of thereduction gears (such as gears 44, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5). Such anarrangement can provide generally the same level of reduction as areduction mechanism 129 including gears 144 (such as that which isdiscussed above with respect to FIGS. 1-4), while lowering vibration andnoise that may arise from the use of gears, with any gears closer tooutput shaft 132 of motor 126 being responsible for greater noise andvibration due to the higher speeds with which they rotate. Further, theuse of belts 190 and pulleys 188 may allow for some slip withinreduction mechanism 129, which may, for example, help prevent damage togear teeth that may be subjected to high loads in such positions. Thereduction mechanism 129 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be used in place ofmechanism 29 in the rearview mirror 10 shown in FIGS. 1-4.

Returning to FIGS. 4 and 5, the active position of mirror 10 cancorrespond to a positioning of mounting plate 20 in a generally parallelrelationship to front wall 85. As discussed above, during movement ofrearview mirror 10 out of the active position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 andinto the inactive position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, motor 26 is used toimplement rotation of the gears 44 within reduction mechanism 29 todrive rotation of spur gear 30, thereby causing rotation of socket body34 and, further of mounting plate 20. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,rotation of spur gear 30 (and, accordingly, socket body 34) through anangle 72 of about 80° can correspond to rotation of mounting plate 20through a corresponding angle 70 (FIG. 5) of, for example, about 6° toposition mirror 10 in the inactive position, as shown in FIG. 5. Theabove-described reduction mechanism 29 can be such that rotation ofoutput shaft 32 through about 3 revolutions and about 10 revolutions(and in one embodiment about 3.9 revolutions) can cause such rotation ofspur gear 30.

Such rotation of output shaft 32 by motor 26 can be implemented by acontroller 92 (FIG. 2) within mirror 10 or that is included in anothercontrol system of vehicle 12 (such as that associated with theabove-mentioned rear vision system). Further, the rotation of outputshaft 32 can be implemented based on a calculation of the rotationthereof using the characteristics of the motor and the current appliedthereto or can be controlled based on information received from one ormore sensors within motor 26 or elsewhere within mirror 10. Whenmovement of mirror 10 from the inactive state to the active state (FIG.4) is desired, rotation of output gear 4 can be driven by motor 26opposite to the direction used to move mirror 10 from the active stateto the inactive state.

In an embodiment motor 26 can be a 12 volt DC motor that can beconfigured to operate at 8 volts or more at 80° C. Further, motor 26 canbe controlled to output shaft 32 through the above-described motion in aperiod of about 2 seconds or less. In an embodiment, a control circuitryfor motor 26 can be configured to move mirror 10 to the inactiveposition, if necessary, upon a loss of power thereto, which can includean unexpected loss of power or upon the associated vehicle 12 beingturned off.

As shown in FIG. 8, a variation of rearview mirror 210 can include amotor 226 coupled with a bearing shaft 232 that extends away therefromin a direction generally parallel to axis 276 on which socket body 234rotates. A drive gear 242 can be coupled on bearing shaft 232 that canbe arranged to mesh with gear teeth included on socket body 234 todirectly drive rotation thereof in a manner consistent with socket body234 of articulation mechanism 224 described above with respect to FIGS.1-5. Bearing shaft 232 may be supported opposite motor 226 by a bearing298 coupled with housing 214. In such an example, the reduction achievedbetween drive gear 242 and socket body 234 may be close to 1:1 or, atmost, about 2:1. Accordingly, motor 226 may be of a higher torque outputthan motor 26 described above, as needed to cause rotation of socketbody 234.

In another variation, shown in FIG. 9, an actuation mechanism 324 for arearview mirror 310 can include a socket body 334 coupled with amounting plate 320 by spring arms 327 of a spring plate 325 in a mannerthat is generally similar to the arrangement of mechanism 24 describedabove with respect to FIGS. 1-4, above. Actuation mechanism 324 caninclude a bearing shaft 397 extending generally parallel to axis 376 ofsocket body 334 and having coupled therewith a drive gear 399 that isoperably engaged with teeth (not shown) on socket body 334. The bearingshaft 397 of actuation mechanism 324, however, is separate from outputshaft 332 of motor 326 and is coupled therewith by a reduction gear 344that is operably coupled with output gear 342 that is coupled withoutput shaft 332. Such an arrangement allows for additional reduction ofthe speed output of motor 326 to provide increased torque on socket body334. As shown, bearing shaft 397 can be supported by a pair of oppositebearings 398 coupled with housing 314.

It will be understood that any described processes or steps withindescribed processes may be combined with other disclosed processes orsteps to form structures within the scope of the present device. Theexemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrativepurposes and are not to be construed as limiting.

It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can bemade on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing fromthe concepts of the present device, and further it is to be understoodthat such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claimsunless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.

The above description is considered that of the illustrated embodimentsonly. Modifications of the device will occur to those skilled in the artand to those who make or use the device. Therefore, it is understoodthat the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above is merelyfor illustrative purposes and not intended to limit the scope of thedevice, which is defined by the following claims as interpretedaccording to the principles of patent law, including the Doctrine ofEquivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rearview mirror for a vehicle, comprising: asubstrate having a reflective surface thereon; and an actuationmechanism coupled with the substrate and including: a mounting platedefining a first end rotatably coupled with the substrate; a socket bodyrotatably mounted in a fixed position with respect to the substrate; aresiliently deformable arm coupled with and extending away from themounting plate and operably coupled with the socket body along acoupling axis; and a motor coupled with the substrate and operablycoupled with the socket body to drive rotation thereof.
 2. The rearviewmirror of claim 1, wherein the motor is operably coupled with the socketbody by a reduction mechanism including at least one gear.
 3. Therearview mirror of claim 2, wherein the reduction mechanism furtherincludes at least one belt operably coupled between two pulleys.
 4. Therearview mirror of claim 2, wherein the reduction mechanism has areduction ratio from the motor to the socket body of between 12:1 and20:1.
 5. The rearview mirror of claim 1, wherein rotation of the socketbody through a first angle with respect to the substrate causes rotationof the mounting plate with respect to the substrate about the first endbetween first and second stable positions.
 6. The rearview mirror ofclaim 5, wherein: the first angle is between about 70 degrees and 100degrees; and the stable positions are rotationally spaced about thefirst end of the mounting plate at an angle of between about 5 degreesand about 10 degrees.
 7. The rearview mirror of claim 5, wherein: therotation of the socket body through the first angle moves the a couplingaxis from a first position at a first distance from the first end of themounting plate to a second position at a second distance from the firstend of the mounting plate and through an apex position at a thirddistance from the first end of the mounting plate that is less than thefirst and second distances; and the arm is biased against the socketbody to urge the coupling axis away from the apex and toward a nearestof the first and second positions, the first and second positionscorresponding to the first and second stable positions.
 8. The rearviewmirror of claim 1, further including a mounting arm coupled with themounting plate, wherein: rotation of the output shaft of the motordrives rotation of the mounting plate with respect to the substrate,thereby causing the substrate to rotate with respect to the mountingarm.
 9. The rearview mirror of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes adisplay, and wherein the reflective surface overlies the display.
 10. Arear-vision system for a vehicle, comprising: a video camera mounted onthe vehicle in a position to capture an image of a portion of anexterior thereof; and a display mirror, including: a substrate having adisplay in electronic communication with the camera for presenting theimage thereon and a one-way reflective layer overlying the display; andan actuation mechanism coupled with the substrate and including: amounting plate defining a first end rotatably coupled with thesubstrate; a socket body rotatably mounted in a fixed position withrespect to the substrate; a resiliently deformable arm coupled with andextending away from the mounting plate and operably coupled with thesocket body along a coupling axis; and a motor coupled with thesubstrate and operably coupled with the socket body to drive rotationthereof.
 11. The system of claim 10, further comprising controlcircuitry coupled with the motor for controlling the motor in drivingthe rotation of the socket body, wherein: the control circuitry isfurther in electronic communication with the display and automaticallycauses the rotation of the socket body to move the substrate betweenfirst and second positions upon one of an activation or deactivation ofthe display, respectively.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein when inthe first position, the substrate is angled toward a headliner of thevehicle by between 5 degrees and 10 degrees relative to the secondposition.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first and secondpositions of the s correspond with first and second stable positions ofthe actuation mechanism.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the motoris operably coupled with the socket body by a reduction mechanismincluding at least one gear.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein thereduction mechanism further includes at least one belt operably coupledbetween two pulleys.
 16. A vehicle, comprising: a windshield; aheadliner adjacent an upper edge of the windshield; and a mirrorassembly, comprising: a substrate including a display and a one-wayreflective layer overlying the display; a mounting plate defining afirst end rotatably coupled with the substrate; a socket body rotatablymounted in a fixed position with respect to the substrate; a resilientlydeformable arm coupled with and extending away from the mounting plateand operably coupled with the socket body along a coupling axis; and amotor coupled with the substrate and operably coupled with the socketbody to drive rotation thereof.
 17. The vehicle of claim 16, whereinrotation of the socket body with respect to the substrate through afirst angle causes rotation of the mounting plate about the first endbetween first and second stable positions.
 18. The vehicle of claim 17,wherein when in the first stable position, the substrate is angledtoward the headliner by between 5 degrees and 10 degrees relative to thesecond stable position.
 19. The vehicle of claim 17, further comprisingcontrol circuitry coupled with the motor for controlling the motor indriving the rotation of the socket body, the control circuitry furtherbeing in electronic communication with the display and automaticallycausing the rotation of the socket body to move the mounting platebetween the first and second stable positions upon one of an activationor deactivation of the display, respectively.
 20. The vehicle of claim16, wherein the motor is operably coupled with the socket body by areduction mechanism including at least one gear.